'Heartbreaking': Canada's dream crushed, team disqualified in Olympic men's relay as Jamaica Bolt(s) to world record

Cam Cole, Vancouver Sun columnist08.12.2012

Jared Connaughton of Canada is totally dejected after being disqualified from the men's 4x100m final during the London 2012 Olympic Games, August 11, 2012.Jean Levac
/ Postmedia Olympic Team

Justyn Warner (R) and Jared Connaughton of Canada celebrate what they thought was a bronze medal in the men's 4x100m final during the London 2012 Olympic Games, August 11, 2012. They were later disqualified.Jean Levac
/ Postmedia Olympic Team

Gavin Smellie (L) and Jared Connaughton of Canada celebrate what they thought was a bronze medal in the men's 4x100m final during the London 2012 Olympic Games, August 11, 2012. They were later disqualified.Jean Levac
/ Postmedia Olympic Team

Gavin Smellie (L) and Justyn Warner (M) and Jared Connaughton of Canada celebrate what they thought was a bronze medal in the men's 4x100m final during the London 2012 Olympic Games, August 11, 2012. They were later disqualified.Jean Levac
/ Postmedia Olympic Team

Jared Connaughton (L), Gavin Smellie, Oluseyi Smith and Justyn Warner (R) of Canada celebrate what they thought was a bronze medal in the men's 4x100m final during the London 2012 Olympic Games, August 11, 2012. They were later disqualified.Jean Levac
/ Postmedia Olympic Team

Jared Connaughton (L) and Justyn Warner of Canada are totally dejected after being disqualified from the men's 4x100m final during the London 2012 Olympic Games, August 11, 2012.Jean Levac
/ Postmedia Olympic Team

Team Canada celebrate what they thought was a bronze medal in the men's 4x100m final during the London 2012 Olympic Games, August 11, 2012. They were later disqualified.Jean Levac
/ Postmedia Olympic Team

Canada's Oluseyi Smith cries into a flag after the Canadian relay team had their third place finish disqualified in the men's 4x100 metre final at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Saturday, August 11, 2012.Ryan Remiorz
/ The Canadian Press

Oluseyi Smith (R), Gavin Smellie (m) and Jared Connaughton of Canada are totally dejected after being disqualified from the men's 4x100m final during the London 2012 Olympic Games, August 11, 2012.Jean Levac
/ Postmedia Olympic Team

Justyn Warner (L) and Jared Connaughton of Canada wait to see the results in the men's 4x100m final during the London 2012 Olympic Games, August 11, 2012. Their initial reaction was one of winning the bronze medal. They were later disqualified.Jean Levac
/ Postmedia Olympic Team

Justyn Warner (L), Oluseyi Smith (M) and Gavin Smellie (R) of Canada are totally dejected after being disqualified from the men's 4x100m final during the London 2012 Olympic Games, August 11, 2012.Jena Levac
/ Postmedia Olympic Team

Oluseyi Smith (R), Gavin Smellie (m) and Jared Connaughton of Canada are totally dejected after being disqualified from the men's 4x100m final during the London 2012 Olympic Games, August 11, 2012.Jean Levac
/ Postmedia Olympic Team

Canada's Jared Connaughton, front, Justyn Warner, right, and Oluseyi Smith react to their times in the 4x100 metre finals at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Saturday, August 11, 2012. The team finished third but was then disqualified.Ryan Remiorz
/ The Canadian Press

Oluseyi Smith (L) and Justyn Warner (R) of Canada are totally dejected after being disqualified from the men's 4x100m final during the London 2012 Olympic Games, August 11, 2012.Jean Levac
/ Postmedia Olympic Team

Oluseyi Smith of Canada is totally dejected after being disqualified from the men's 4x100m final during the London 2012 Olympic Games, August 11, 2012.Jean Levac
/ Postmedia Olympic Team

Canada's Jared Connaughton passes the baton to anchor Justyn Warner in the men's 4 x100m relay in Olympic Stadium at the London Olympic Games, August 11, 2012. Initially it appeared they won the bronze medal and then they were disqualified for Connaughton stepping out of his lane.Ed Kaiser
/ Postmedia Olympic Team

Brijesh Lawrence of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Justyn Warner of Canada and Adam Gemili of Great Britain approach the finish line during the Men's 4 x 100m Relay Round 1 heats on Day 14 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on August 10, 2012 in London, England.Alexander Hassenstein
/ Getty Images

Jamaica's Usain Bolt (R) runs with the baton ahead of U.S.' Ryan Bailey (2dR) to win in the men's 4X100 relay final at the athletics event of the London 2012 Olympic Games on August 11, 2012 in London.CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/GettyImages

LONDON — Far from where Jamaica’s Usain Bolt was finishing off his third gold medal of the London Olympics — but not so far that they wouldn’t have won a medal — the members of the Canadian 4x100-metre relay team were 99 per cent of the way to running the race of their lives.

Then the one per cent bit them in the butt.

The left foot of their most veteran runner, Jared Connaughton, made contact with the inside lane marking, as he rounded the curve before handing the baton to anchor man Justyn Warner, and in the time it took the Canadians to grab flags and begin their celebratory bronze medal lap, their dream was crushed by the message on the scoreboard.

“Canada,” it said. “DQ.”

They dropped to the track, rubbing their eyes in disbelief. Warner crumpled the Canadian flag and wept into its folds.

Joy to despair, in a twinkling.

Canada appealed the disqualification, but it was denied, and Trinidad was awarded the bronze.

The Jamaicans — Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Yohan Blake and the incomparable Bolt — were supreme, as most thought they would be, destroying their own world record by fully 2/10ths, running a stunning 36.84 seconds. The Americans equalled the former world mark of 37.04. No one else was close.

But Warner leaned for third in 38.07 ... and then the time disappeared from the board.

“I take full responsibility, I’m the captain of this team, put it all on my shoulders,” said Connaughton, the lone holdover from the team that finished sixth in Beijing four years ago. “We ran a great relay tonight. One step took that away, but ... that’s sports, you know. That’s why they don’t send it to you in the mail before you get here: you have to earn it.

“It’s like [New England Patriots receiver] Wes Welker last year in the Super Bowl, dropped that pass and they all blamed him. Every one of us ran a hell of a leg, and we won a bronze medal — maybe we don’t have it around our necks, but we know it.

“Trinidad’s out there taking a victory lap, but they know they didn’t do it.”

The Canadian team — Gavin Smellie, Oluseyi Smith, Connaughton and Warner — had proven that raw individual speed wasn’t the whole story.

“I still can’t believe it. It’s heartbreaking for everybody that came here and worked so hard,” said Smellie. “We thought we had it. We looked at the scoreboard and saw they had Trinidad in third place and us DQ’d. I’m really hurting inside.

“We wish we had the hardware to prove we did something like this. To have it taken away is heartbreaking, and I really don’t want to live with this.”

They got the baton around in great shape, with clean passes and great momentum, and seemed to have punched it in for the first Canadian relay medal since Atlanta in 1996, when Robert Esmie, Glenroy Gilbert, Bruny Surin and Donovan Bailey won gold in 37.69, a Canadian record that still stands.

Gilbert is now the Canadian team’s sprint and relay coach.

“They've worked hard for four years to get to this point, and to be DQ'd like that is a hard pill to swallow,” said Gilbert, who looked devastated. “I feel badly for them, because they've put in the work, they put in the time, they've run clean races all year, and the one that counted the most, tonight, was not.”

“You know, this is a program that Glenroy has worked so hard on, not just for four years, but for eight years, to get everybody back on the same page, and they are, and that’s what’s so sad about this,” said Canadian head coach Alex Gardiner. “Every one of them were euphoric, and not just for themselves but for the team, the country, for every good reason.

“We appealed because we believe the interpretation of the rule didn’t apply in this situation. There was no gained advantage. It says the runner cannot leave his lane. We think it’s not conclusive enough to see and say ‘It’s obvious.’”

But Connaughton knew as soon as he saw the replay.

“I was a little worried,” said the 27-year-old from Prince Edward Island. “I saw it again and I said, ‘It’s my fault.’ ”

“It’s tough on Jared, because he’s worked harder than anyone on that team to put us here,” Gardiner said. “He was very apologetic, but he doesn’t need to be.

“They deserved an outcome. It’s going to be rough on them, but I think they’ll be resilient. The program’s a great program. We know we’ve got eight guys. Will they all be back in 2016? Potentially. None of them are as old as 30 and they start as young as 20, so ...

“I keep reminding myself, though, that Jamaica and the U.S. and Trinidad are not going to sit down in their rocking chairs and wait for us to get better. And better means being consistent in that 37.90 range. We certainly have the athletes to do that. We’re literally a step away from getting a medal.”

“It’s just a stupid rule,” Connaughton said bitterly. “There’s a lot of stupid rules in this sport, unfortunately.

“It used to be three consecutive steps [on the line], now it’s one. Again, the one false start rule is stupid, the one step on the line is stupid. So many officials in this sport set the athletes up to fail. It’s a game of inches, and it’s so unforgiving.”

“To see the DQ on the side, after we put everything into it,” Warner said, and began to cry. “We knew it was ours to lose, you know ...that’s the worst way to lose, that’s the worst way to lose a medal."

Far away from where the Canadians were licking their wounds, but not so far that he hadn’t seen what had happened to them, Usain Bolt wasn’t asked a single question about any disqualification.

He is six-for-six in gold medals for his two Olympics. What does he know about sadness?

"It's always a beautiful feeling to end off like this,” he said. “The team came out and gave their all — I knew a world record was possible.

“This was my goal. I've done it, so right now I'm going to sit down and think about [the future]. But I'm going to the city tonight to celebrate."

An hour after the race, Jared Connaughton (@jncoolc) posted this on his Twitter account:

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'Heartbreaking': Canada's dream crushed, team disqualified in Olympic men's relay as Jamaica Bolt(s) to world record

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